Pile fabrics for floor covering use



A ril 28, 1959 D KA P FF.

FI FABRICS-FOR FLOOR COVERING USE Filed April 18.. 195? I INVENTQR,

ATTORNEYS United States Patent PILE FABRICS FOR FLOOR COVERING USE David Karpotf, Amsterdam, N.Y., assignor to Mohasco Industries, lnc., Amsterdam, N.Y., a corporation of New York Application April 18, 1957, Serial No. 653,671

6 Claims. (Cl. 139-402) This invention relates to pile fabrics of the types used as fioor coverings in the form of carpets and rugs and is concerned more particularly with a novel pile fabric, which is superior to prior pile fabrics of generally similar construction in that it has a flatter back, so that a greater proportion of the area of its under surface makes contact with the floor. As a result, a rug of the new fabric is less easily displaced along the fioor than rugs of prior similar fabrics and floor coverings of the new fabric retain their shape better and give greater wear. All the advantages of the invention may be realized in its application to pile fabrics of the type produced on pile wire looms, such as tapestry, velvet, and Wilton fabrics, and, for purposes of explanation, a fabric of velvet construction embodying the invention will be illustrated and described in detail.

Tapestry and velvet fabrics as made heretofore have commonly included filling yarns in two series lying, respectively, above and below stulfer warps and held in place by two sets of binder warp yarns or fine chains. The filling yarns of the two series lie vertically aligned with the pile yarns bound beneath the filling yarns in the upper series and the binder warp yarns of one set pass over the odd and under the even filling yarns along the fabric while the binder warp yarns of the other set pass under the odd and over the even filling yarns. The binder warp yarns of the two sets cross in the spaces between vertically aligned filling yarns, so that, at the back of the fabric, adjacent filling yarns are spaced apart. With such a construction, the bottom of the fabric is formed of alternate ridges and furrows and the fabric engages the floor at a plurality of points resulting from the crossing of the binder warp yarns beneath the bottom filling yarns. Even though the back of such a fabric is given the customary coating of a material, such as rubber latex, the coating cannot greatly increase the total area of contact of the fabric with the floor and a rug of the construction described is easily displaced along the floor. While Wilton fabrics differ in construction from those of tapestry and velvet weave, they also have an under surface which is ribbed or corrugated, as above described.

The present invention is, accordingly, directed to the provision of a pile fabric of the type made on a pile wire loom, in which the binder warp yarns are manipulated in a novel manner, so that the fabric has a flatter back than prior similar fabrics. In the new fabric, the binder warp yarns serve both to bind the filling yarns in place and also to impart to the fabric the stiffness ordinarily obtained by the use of stutter warp yarns. As a result, stutter warp yarns of the type, which extend through a fabric substantially in a plane and perform no essential binding function, are omitted from the new fabric. In the back of the new fabric, the contact surface may be formed mainly of lengths of binder warp yarns passing beneath filling yarns and such an effect is obtained, when the binder warp yarns are under relatively light tension. By increasing the tension on the binder warp yarns, it is possible to cause such crimping of the filling yarns that the portions of the pile yarns passing beneath the filling yarns may be lowered into the contact surface. In either case, the contact surface is greater than that of comparable fabrics with a ribbed back of the prior construction.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a view in exploded perspective of one form of velvet fabric embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 of a fabric of the construction shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 1 of a fabric of the construction shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 of a fabric of modified construction.

The fabric illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 is of the construction shown in Fig. 1 and it includes a plurality of filling yarns 10 interlaced with binder warp yarns in three sets represented by the yarns 11, 12, and 13. The binder warp yarns are arranged in groups, which include a yarn from each set, and adjacent groups across the fabric are separated by a row of pile elements 14, which are lengths of pile yarn passing beneath and bound by alternate filling yarns along the fabric.

The binder warp yarns 11 of the first set pass alternately over and under the filling yarns along the fabric and, as shown, the yarns 11 pass over the filling yarns 10a, 10c, 10c, 10g, and 101 and pass under intermediate filling yarns 10b, 10d, 10 and 10h. The warp yarns of the other sets pass over successive filling yarns, which the yarns of the first set pass under, and each of the yarns of the other sets passes under an odd number of filling yarns between the filling yarns, which it passes over. Thus, the warp yarns typified by the yarn 12 pass over filling yarn 10b, beneath which yarn 11 passes, while the warp yarns typified by the yarn 13 pass over the next warp yarn along the fabric, namely, yarn 10d, beneath which the yarn 11 passes. After passing over the filling yarn 10b, the yarns typified by yarn 12 pass under filling yarns 10c, 10d, and 10a, rise to pass over filling yarn 10 and are then depressed to pass under filling yarns 10g, 10h, and 101' before rising to pass over the next filling yarn. The warp yarns typified by the yarn 13 pass beneath filling yarns 10a, 10b, 100, then over yarn 10d and under the next three filling yarns 10e, 107, 10g, and then rise to pass over filling yarn 10h.

With the warp yarns 11, 12, and 13 of the three sets handled in the way described, each of the filling yarns along the fabric is crossed by the binder warps of one set, which pass over it, and by the binder warps of the other two sets, which pass beneath it. Each binder warp 12, 13 of the second and third sets has portions, which lie on the back of the fabric and are of a length equal to three times the length of the space between adjacent filling yarns. Such lengths of the warp yarns 12, 13 form part of the surface of the fabric, which contacts the floor, and the provision of such lengths of yarn in the under surface of the fabric gives a greater contact area and it has a flatter back surface than would otherwise be the case.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. l-3, incl., the binder warp yarns 11, 12, and 13 are under relatively light tension, so that the filling yarns are approximately straight and in a plane. With that arrangement, the portions 14a of the pile elements lying beneath filling yarns are spaced slightly above the contact surface of the fabric and that surface is formed by the portions of the binder yarns, which lie beneath the filling yarns. If dea sired, the binder yarns 11, 12, 13 may be placed under increased tension sufficient to cause the filling yarns to be crimped and, when that is done, the portions of the warp yarns at the back of the fabric lie slightly above the contact surface and the latter is formed by the portions 14:: of the pile elements. Regardless of whether the contact surface of the fabric is formed by portions of the warp yarns 11, 12, 13 or of the pile elements, the back of the fabric does not have a ribbed or corrugated form and the back is much flatter than in prior similar constructions.

In the modified form of the fabric shown in Fig. 4, four sets of binder warp yarns are employed with a yarn from each set in each group across the fabric. As in the Fig. 1 construction, the yarns 15 of the first set pass alternately over and under the filling yarns along the fabric and the warp yarns of each of the other sets pass over successive filling yarns, which the yarns of the first set pass under. Thus, the warp yarns 15 of the first set pass under the filling yarns 16p, Mg, 101', and s and the warp yarns 16 of the second set then pass over yarn 10p. The yarns 17 of the second set pass over yarn 10c and the yarns 18 pass over yarn 1th. Yarns 16 then pass over the filling yarn 10s, which is the next filling yarn along the fabric, which the warp yarn passes under. Between filling yarns 10p and 10s, over which they pass, the yarns 16 pass beneath five filling yarns, as shown in Fig. 4. Similarly, after passing over filling yarn 10q, the yarns 17 pass beneath five filling yarns before rising and passing over the next one, and the yarns 18 likewise pass beneath five filling yarns between the two filling yarns, over which yarns 18 pass.

In the construction shown in Fig. 4, the warp yarns 15, 16, 17, and 18 are under relatively light tension, so that the contact area of the back of the fabric is formed of lengths of these yarns. By increasing the tension on the yarns suificiently to crimp the filling yarns, the portions of the pile elements, which pass beneath filling yarns, can be lowered to form the contact surface at the back of the fabric.

In the weaving of the fabrics illustrated, wires are inserted in the warp shed in each cycle of operations of the loom and the pile yarns are raised over such wires. The wires have cutting blades and, when the wires are removed as the weaving operation proceeds, the blades cut the loops of pile yarn raised over the wires and form tuft legs. The use of the cutting wires thus produces the cut pile characteristic of velvet fabric. If the wires are 4t non-cutting, the removal of the wires leaves a pile formed of pile loops as is characteristic of the tapestry weave.

I claim:

1. A pile fabric, which comprises interlaced binder warp and filling yarns, the warp yarns being in a plurality of sets with the yarns of the first set passing alternately over and under the filling yarns along the fabric, the warp yarns of each of the other sets passing over successive filling yarns, which the yarns of the first set pass under, with each of the yarns of said other sets passing under an odd number of filling yarns between the filling yarns, which it passes over, the warp yarns being disposed in the fabric in groups spaced across the fabric with each group containing a single yarn only of each set, and pile elements of yarn having portions bound beneath filling yarns and lying between adjacent groups of warp yarns and other portions extending upward on opposite sides of and above said filling yarns.

2. The pile fabric of claim 1, in which the warp yarns are in three sets with the yarns of the first set passing alternately over and under the filling yarns along the fabric, the yarns of the second set pass over alternate filling yarns along the fabric, which the warp yarns of the first set pass under, and the yarns of the third set pass over intermediate filling yarns along the fabric, which the warp yarns of the first set pass under, each of the yarns of the second and third sets passing under three filling yarns between the filling yarns, which it passes over.

3. The pile fabric of claim 1, in which the warp yarns are arranged in four sets with the yarns of the first set passing alternately over and under the filling yarns along the fabric, the yarns of each of the other sets pass over successive filling yarns, which the yarns of the first set pass under, and each of the warp yarns of said other sets passing under five filling yarns between the filling yarns, which it passes over.

4. The pile fabric of claim 1, in which the pile elements are bound beneath filling yarns, which the warp yarns of the first set pass over.

5. The pile fabric of claim 1, in which the pile elements are bound beneath filling yarns, which the warp yarns of the first set pass under.

6. The pile fabric of claim 1, in which the pile elements are tufts.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,745,443 Keen May 15, 1956 

